On June 30, the sixth season of the hip-hop production Show Me the Money (SMTM) aired on the channel Mnet. With about 2000 contestants arriving for the tryouts with their own unique charismas, the show quickly drew many people’s attention to not only the skilled array of rappers on the show but also to the appearance of some of the most famous and qualified rappers in K-pop. Due to already popular artists like Zico and Dean appearing on the show as producers alongside skilled amateur rappers and introducing a variety of colorful, catchy hip-hop music, SMTM continues to be one of the most popular shows on air.
“Not only is SMTM the only hip-hop show in Korea, but it also gives a chance for many rookie rappers to shine on stage and show their skills to the public,” Chan Lee (10) said. “Additionally, it’s a very good source of entertainment for people like me who are really interested in Korean hip-hop.”
Furthermore, the show received kudos for supporting many underground rappers who are yet to be known to the public. In fact, many claimed that one of the good sides to SMTM was that the show not only gave amateur rappers an opportunity to become more popular but also provided them with a chance to work with experienced rappers or producers to produce high quality music. Although SMTM may be known to some people for limiting the spotlight on the more skilled rappers or depicting a contestant in a manipulative manner in so dubbed “evil edits,” many still agree that it deserves accolades for giving opportunities to many rookie contestants with the dream of becoming more popular.
“Although SMTM sometimes has negatives sides like using evil edits to only show skilled rappers, overall it’s a really good show because it gives rookie rappers a chance to finally get popular and prove their skills to the public.” Eric Hwang (10) said, “Also, I love watching some of the talented amateur rappers get through a difficult process and finally reach the point where they do a collaboration performance with the producers to make good quality music.”
SMTM 6, undeniably being one of the hottest programs that aired until recently, continues to bring interest to even more audiences than before. As a matter of fact, many of its viewers looked forward to watching the next episodes, where their favorite producers and rappers such as Nucksal and Jo Woo Chan rapped high-quality music together in some of the final installments of this season.
“I feel like SMTM has several elements in it that are unique to its own program,” Julie Song (12) said. “I especially think SMTM is special because it sheds light on rap music that is not idolizing and cute, but very competitive and burdensome among the competitors who have their own colorful and distinctive style of rapping. Therefore, I personally think the fun part comes when as a viewer, you start to encourage certain teams of rappers who not only have a unique style of rapping you like but also have a certain inner personality that is charming to the audience. I’m definitely looking forwards to the next episode.”